Which "league" plays better defense overall?

I think NCAA players play much harder in general compared to NBA players, but obviously the talent level is completely different. You see a lot more zone in college defenses, players have to move around and hustle a lot more in the zone compared to man-to-man in the NBA.

But to say Reddick faced better individual defenses in and more complex team defenses in college is false IMO. The NBA is still the best of the best players in the world and while some individuals may not be the best defenders in the NBA, many of the guards JJ will face night in and night out in the NBA are going to be head and shoulders above anyone JJ has faced in his college career.

I would say college players play tougher defense than NBA players, but the talent level isn't comparable.

 

Maybe I am missing something, but there is no comparison. The talent and complexity of NBA defenses blow away college basketball. In the NBA, players are scouted and offensive & defensive weaknesses are exploited. There is some degree of scouting in college but nothing like the NBA.

JJ Redick will find it MUCH harder to score in the NBA than college, especially since he is not very quick or athletic. Average SGs will easily be able to keep up with him. Again, maybe I'm missing something but to me there is no real basis for discussion here.

Redick will have to use smarts, savvy and constant movement to learn how to slip away from players using screens, dirty tricks, etc or either be nothing more than a 3 pt specialist like a Steve Kerr. His offensive game will have to be good enough to overcome being a huge liability on defense. He's the kind of guy who could be an effective 10-15 min/game player on a good offensive team with other players who draw double-teams. If Luther becomes more consistent from long range, he will become a more effective NBA player than Redick could hope to be. At #8, we would be crazy to draft him.

I think Redick's defense will hinder him more than his inability to get off shots. Both will be problems.

 

the bottom line is the nba has bigger, better, and faster players. nba by far plays better defense.

 

College basketball really benefits from the lack of defense rules that are common in the NBA.

In college, the talent level is clearly lacking, especially at the smaller schools. As a result, teams have to get really creative with their defenses.

I'll use West Virginia as a case in point. (especially given the fact that we're looking at two of their players, gansey and pittsnogle)

That team is literally a bunch of no-name scrubs. Most aren't particularly athletic and at most two of them pass off as mediocre to below average nba talent. And so to compensate, they run a 1-3-1 zone that confuses the hell out of anyone who hasn't seen it. Not to mention, they like to switch defenses rapidly, sometimes within possessions. They'll go from the 1-3-1, to the 2-3, to a box-1, to man to man all throughout the game and it just becomes impossible to predict. In the tournament, it just gave teams fits because it's so unique and different. They run an incredibly creative defense to compensate for a severe lack of athleticism.

Now whether these unique defenses are "better" is somewhat subjective. I really like them because I love the amazing diversity in styles in college. There's obviously some diversity in the NBA. (phoenix being a great case, Sacramento's motion offense being another) But team's generally play man to man and occasionally deploy the pseudo-zones allowed by the new rules. It's pretty standard from team to team.

So yes it's better from an entertainment standpoint (much better in my opinion) and maybe they might give nba teams some trouble because they're just so damn different, but in the end the sheer athleticism and physical play of nba players would just be too much.

 

Not to mention that it's an absolute myth that college players hustle and work harder than pros. In the NBA you've got a large percentage of the players who need to work their asses off in order to stay in the league, or at least gain playing time.

The competition is fierce at the guard and swing positions, so you'd need to be exceedingly talented to loaf around on the defensive end. And even those big men who get big contracts and slack off, need to bang pretty hard in the paint on defense. With 250+ lb guys bumping around down there, it's not that easy to dismiss them based on production.

This is before mentioning that the level of scouting, defensive adjustments, and strategy in the NBA is far above what even the top teams are doing in college.

In terms of Redick, he'll definitely face less defensive attention in the NBA, not because college has better defenders/defensive tactics, but because no team is going to make him a focal point of their offensive attack. He's a role player, who will be able to score if he's put in position to score (i.e. coming off screens or spotting up for open jumpers off defensive rotations).

 

Is this serious?